SEM-ifying Your Twitter Tweets

June 30, 2010 in Marketing | Tags: | Leave a comment

Without a doubt, “Twittering” has become an extremely popular activity among the under-30 crowd and increasingly in the over-30 crowd as well. Twitter.com is one of the highest traffic websites around and it would be to any small business owners advantage in realizing its potential by using this social media technology to get more traffic to their business website and (hopefully) increased sales.

Knowing how to use Twitter to benefit your business can result in some significant marketing benefits, because both Google.com and Bing.com are now incorporating Tweets into their search engine results via the “Real-Time” search option so that searchers can get real-time information on a hot topic (such as a breaking news event).

In order for your business to make the most of searchers using the “Real-Time” search option, there are a few simple Search Engine Marketing (SEM) rules you should remember to follow when Tweeting about your business to increase the chances that your Tweets show up in the search engines;

  1. Because the first 42 characters of your Tweet is what Google use is to index your Tweet in its database, make texture sure to use these characters wisely. For instance, use abbreviations whenever possible such as “&” instead of “and”.
  2. Include your most important keywords in your Tweets if at all possible, being careful not to sound too spammy. Always follow the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) in mind went composing business-related Tweets.
  3. Encourage your followers to Retweet your messages by limiting your Tweets to no more than 120 characters so as to save room for the “RT @ username” that is added when someone Retweets your messages to their followers.
  4. Do your best to increase your Twitter account’s “Usage” (i.e. number of new visitors to your account, referring sites, page views, time spent on the site, etc.) as it’s generally believed that the higher your Usage, better chance your Tweets will rank higher in the search engine results for your keywords.

Remember, having and using a Twitter account for your business will get you more visitors is the search engines but the real value lies in non-SEM benefits. Links from social media sites like Twitter can improve your business’s overall reputation both in the search engines as well as on the Internet, and this increase presence comes to facilitate branding.

Kenn’e

The Fortune Is In The Following Up

May 31, 2010 in Marketing | Tags: | Leave a comment

I came across an interesting article by marketing expert Tonya R. Taylor of 101FreeTools.com who wrote about the importance of following up on all the contacts you have -whether they be loyal customers, nearly-customers or even disgruntled prospects- because following up with business contacts is the easiest way to generate additional sales without spending much, if any, money doing so.

Follow Up ‘Best Practices’
Although the best method of following up with someone is to send them a hand written letter, few of us have time to do that so the next best system is send an e-mail using an autoresponder.

What is an Autoresponder?
An autoresponder is a prewritten message or series of messages delivered via email. The autoresponder software tool sends messages based on a specific date, timeframe or an event like opting in to a newsletter list.

Why You Need an Autoresponder
An autoresponder is an effective e-mail follow up system that works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the best-kept secret guaranteed to give your online or offline business an unfair advantage over the competition.

Autoresponder Uses and Methods
Here are 11 ideas for you to use with your small business to automatically follow up with your business contacts. Use these ideas (or some of your own) with your contacts to build a follow up autoresponder series and watch your sales grow!

1 . Resell – Remind existing customers to reorder
2 . Upsell – Inform contacts about a complimenting product or service
3 . Presale – Answer frequently asked questions before a contact makes a purchase
4 . Action – Ask contacts for the sale after they have downloaded free information
5 . Referral – Offer an existing customer a referral bonus to send an email to a friend
6 . Purchase – After making a purchase, offer customers tips or how to get started info
7 . Sale – Inform contacts about a product sale or new bundle of products or services
8 . Events – Notify contacts of an event’s location, starting time, what (if anything) to bring
9 . Survey – Ask your contacts for feedback on any products or services they tried
10. Testimonial – Ask your contact to provide a testimonial via an emailed template
11. Opt In – Send contacts a welcome message after they opt-in to your private customer list

Kenn

Local Search Wars Just Heated Up

April 30, 2010 in Newsworthy | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There aren’t too many companies out there willing to take on Google in a street fight, but all the signs point to Facebook doing just that. The good news for small businesses is that this fight will give Google some significant competition in its monopoly over how local shoppers connect with local businesses, a.k.a. Local Search.

Googlers Vs. FB Friends
Smartphone technology is fast replacing the Yellow Pages as the place for local shopper’s to find everything from pizza delivery to surgical supply stores. Google currently dominates local search results, but now Facebook is challenging Google as the king of local search by announcing on April 29 2010 that its now offering brick-and-mortar businesses decals to put in their windows in an attempt to encourage its 400 million-strong users to visit local business’s Facebook page in hopes that more businesses will purchase advertising on Facebook.

It should be noted that Facebook has said that businesses which promote their Facebook page in places other than Facebook see a 20%+ increase in connections. So sure, in fact, that they’re offering beta testers of their new decal program $25 in advertising credits to help encourage businesses to participate in program, as well as their advertising program in general.

Searching For Small Businesses
The hottest trend in search engine optimization right now is Local Search, mainly because it’s getting more diversified as more people are using different types of Internet-capable devices (Smartphones, PDAs, GPS units, etc.) to find what they’re looking for. No less an expert than SearchEngineLand.com contributing editor Greg Sterling says, “It [Facebook] could do nothing in particular or it could build the single most effective local directory and search site that exists. This data will be more valuable than anything Google… possesses.”

Not Alone In Dishing Out Decals
By no means is Facebook the only website that’s offering details small businesses can put in in their storefront windows. Google.com, Yelp.com, and Fousquare.com all have decals shopkeepers can display. In fact, Google has been sending decals to businesses as part of its Favorite Places program for months now and just announced that it’ll be sending out details to 50,000 businesses. The major difference between the decal programs of Facebook and Google is that the latter’s decals include a QR code customers can scan with their Smartphone for more information about the business while Facebook’s decal simply displays the business’ Facebook page URL.

In Summation…
In the rough-and-tumble world of politics, there is an old saying that goes, “All politics are local”. Well, so are all searches, or at least that’s the way it is when using the Internet to search in a defined geographic area for local merchants. And whether it’s through Google, Facebook or any other website, this trend will only continue as more and more people are using Smartphone technology rather than their local phonebook when searching for help.

So, if you’re a brick-and-mortar business owner, you better start thinking more “locally”.

Kenn’e